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Vanessa Kimbell's Guide to Sourdough Bread

Understanding Bread's Influence on Health and Environment

Baking as Lifestyle Medicine is a transformative and systemic approach to systems change; because bread that nourishes is the foundation of good health, social justice, and a sustainable future
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Why mill your own flour?

21 August 2021 by Vanessa Kimbell
A bag of botanical Blend Flour
3kg of Botanical Blend No.2 Meadow Blend flour

It’s that time of year;  late summer and I am gathering ingredients to use in my flour blends for the autumn and winter baking. I first introduced Botanical Blends in my The Sourdough School Sweet Baking book last year, but I have been using the Botanical Blend flours for years.

It’s exquisite flour, and it has taken many years to gather the ingredients and bring all the elements together, to be able to actually sell it.

It’s about sustainability and diversity, and supporting farmers, and our own gut microbiome – you can click here to learn more about why this really matters… and if you live in the UK you can buy it here. 

10 Minute Sourdough book

We also know that for people who are busy and looking forward to our new 10 Minute Sourdough book just being able to buy our signature blend ready milled is really helpful.

Why mill your own flour?

Flavour

Freshly milled flour has a stronger, more complex flavour, especially if you are using the whole grain with nothing sieved out. You only have to sniff a bag of freshly
milled flour to realise the difference – you can almost smell the wheat field! And, of course, you can add flavour to your flour by milling a range of grains, pulses, dried herbs and spices. You can even mill flours that aren’t commercially available – acorn flour anyone? A home mill allows you to experiment with different blends and create flavour combinations that you really like

Texture

Milling your own flour puts you in control of how coarse or fine the flour is. You can even create flours incorporating different textures, for example blending a roller-milled high-protein flour with a coarser home-milled barley or spelt flour.

Diversity

Diversity is key for nurturing the microbes in our gut, so adding a diverse range of ingredients to the bread we eat every day is an easy way to support our gut microbiome. This is why we created our Botanical Blends – nutritious flours that help you bake delicious and healthy loaves.

Nutrition

The nutritional value of flour begins to decline almost as soon as the grain has been milled. As the flour oxidises some nutrients are lost, although the oxidation process does mean that the gluten will be stronger when you make bread with older flour. Using your flour as soon as you mill it ensures you get the full nutritional value, and you can use the wholegrain – nothing is lost in the processing.

Why do I still suggest milling your own flour?

We started by creating the grain blend so you can mill at home.  So why have we kept this product?

Milling flour at home has been a game changer for many bakers. The flavour, nutritional benefits and being able to work with flours that are tailor-made for your baking are well worth the investment of a home mill. If you are researching home milling, here’s a short list of the reasons we think it’s one of the best things a home baker can do.

It is a chance to experiment and experience flour like no other

A home mill leads to a whole new world of baking. Unlike flour produced in commercial mills, home milled flour will be subtly different every time and will challenge you to use your baking experience to coax the best out of it.

For more information on the diverse range of grains, spices and even dried flower petals you can mill to make flour, see our article Home milling – what can I mill into flour?

But for those of you who are happier to just have a bag of flour then please do try our new Botanical Blend No 2. Click here for more information 

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All reasonable care is taken when writing about health aspects of bread, but the information it contains is not intended to take the place of treatment by a qualified medical practitioner. You must seek professional advice if you are in any doubt about any medical condition. Any application of the ideas and information contained on this website is at the reader's sole discretion and risk.

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Vanessa Kimbell

About Vanessa Kimbell

Vanessa Kimbell is the Course Director The Sourdough School, a world-renowned centre of research & education in bread, the gut microbiome and the impact of bread on health based in Northamptonshire. She is currently working on her Doctorate and writing her 6th book and is a best selling international author.

More information about Vanessa can be found:
The Sourdough School team page: About Vanessa Kimbell

The Sourdough Club: thesourdoughclub.com

Instagram accounts: @SourdoughClub
@SourdoughSchool @vanessakimbell

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  1. Christine McFadden

    21 August 2021 at 7:26 pm

    Couldn’t agree more

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Todays live for diploma students will be on 'How t Todays live for diploma students will be on 'How to engage your patient in the lifestyle changes of the BALM' with @vanessakimbell 

In their 6pm live session, we help keep our students on track with the syllabus and discuss the application of Baking As Lifestyle Medicine to the 6 pillars of Lifestyle medicine, applying the research papers, application of the Research, and how this ties into prescribing, along with guest lecturers, discussions and sharing knowledge.

#lifestylemedicine #health #functionalmedicine #nutrition #integrativemedicine #healthylifestyle #wellness #lifestyle #rcgp #dietitian #nutritionist #healthcareprofessional #holistichealth #healthyliving #plantbased #guthealth #naturopathicmedicine #selfcare #functionalnutrition  #naturopathicdoctor #foodasmedicine #foodismedicine #lifestylegoals #cpd #lifestylechange #mentalhealth #sourdough #sourdoughschool #bakeforhealth
BAKE, ANALYSE, EAT; RECALIBRATE & REPEAT. 📆 Th BAKE, ANALYSE, EAT; RECALIBRATE & REPEAT.

📆 The Sourdough School Clinic - Thursdays 8pm - for students of The Sourdough School 

✏️ In this weekly live session, we cover technical baking questions. Students can submit their Baking Record Sheets in advance of the session.

📋 We look at the details of our student's bakes - the specifics of the flour, timings and temperatures. Using our sourdough record sheets Vanessa will make suggestions on how they might modify, or recalibrate the next time they bake.

Follow the link in the bio to learn more about becoming a student at The Sourdough School 👆

#sourdough #sourdoughschool #bread #sourdoughlove #sourdoughlover #naturalleavened #leavening #levain #realbread #breadmaking #bakebread #makebread #makerealbread #learntobakebread #breadmakingclass #sourdoughstories #bakingforlove #bakingtherapy #sourdoughbaking
IBS AWARENESS MONTH Do you suffer from irritable IBS AWARENESS MONTH

Do you suffer from irritable bowel syndrome (IBS)? It can be tough to deal with the uncomfortable symptoms of stomach cramps, constipation, diarrhoea and bloating. But did you know that making dietary changes, such as incorporating sourdough bread into your diet, could help alleviate some of those symptoms?

Studies have shown that sourdough's long, slow fermentation process can reduce IBS symptoms. Plus, during #ibsawarenessmonth, we're exploring how adding different herbs and spices to your sourdough can further improve both the flavour and the digestion of your bread.

Let's talk about gut health, fermentation, and how sourdough can be a delicious and healthy addition to your diet. Join the conversation and share your experiences with IBS and sourdough.

#guthealth #healyourgut #healthygut #guthealing #guthealthmatters #letfoodbethymedicine #foodasmedicine #gutbrainconnection #nutrientdense #micronutrients #digestivehealth #nutritionfacts #microbiome #breadandguts #ibsawarenessmonth
THE SOURDOUGH SCHOOL – HAND CARVED WOODEN LAME THE SOURDOUGH SCHOOL – HAND CARVED WOODEN LAME

One of the biggest issues around using a plastic lame to score sourdough, of course, is that eventually the blade will become blunt and the lame could end up in landfill.  So several years ago I talked to my dear friend EJ about developing a lame with a replaceable blade. And he came up with this very beautiful hand carved wooden lame.

Very sadly EJ is no longer with us. Recently a friend of EJ’s who is also a wood turner and carver offered to make these again for us in remembrance of our dear friend.

Follow the link in the bio to our shop where you can find our full selection of wooden sourdough tools 👆

#sourdough #sourdoughschool #bread #sourdoughlove #sourdoughlover #naturalleavened #leavening #levain #realbread #breadmaking #bakebread #makebread #makerealbread #learntobakebread #breadmakingclass #sourdoughstories #bakingforlove #bakingtherapy #sourdoughbaking
The Baking As Lifestyle Medicine (BALM) Protocol The Baking As Lifestyle Medicine (BALM) Protocol

The current food system is broken at multiple levels, from the pesticides used in our soils to the emulsifiers and additives adulterating industrially-processed foods. Nowhere is this more apparent than in the bread we eat.  The figures reported by the UK Flour Millers say that bread is bought by a staggering “99.8% of British households” and that “the equivalent of nearly 11 million loaves are sold each day. Approximately 60-70% of the bread we eat is white and sandwiches are thought to account for 50% of overall bread consumption. Average bread purchases are the equivalent of 60.3 loaves per person per year.” 

Most bread sold is made by modern processing methods that strip heart-healthy whole grains of their nutrient contents, resulting in low-fibre bread with a high glycemic index. Over time, white processed bread can increase a person’s risk of insulin resistance alongside other lifestyle diseases.

We’re on a mission to revolutionise the bread making process at every level – from soil to slice. The rules governing this are laid out in our Baking As Lifestyle Medicine protocol. 

#lifestylemedicine #health #functionalmedicine #nutrition #integrativemedicine #healthylifestyle #wellness #lifestyle #rcgp #dietitian #nutritionist #healthcareprofessional #holistichealth #healthyliving #plantbased #guthealth #naturopathicmedicine #selfcare #functionalnutrition  #naturopathicdoctor #foodasmedicine #foodismedicine #lifestylegoals #cpd #lifestylechange #mentalhealth #sourdough #sourdoughschool #bakeforhealth
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